1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the design and use of muscle powered mechanisms useful for land, water and air vehicles of foot pedal and hand lever design.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
It is realized that human powered vehicles such as bicycles, tricycles and to a lesser extent, recumbent vehicles are popular and in wide use. These each offer the operator an economical means of transportation and represent a good form of exercise. Some inventions in the past have been filed for vehicles and mechanisms that could be propelled solely by the muscle power of the operator or operators which provide more comfort, a lower center of gravity, and more efficient utilization of the operator's muscle strength than a conventional bicycle. These were typically recumbent vehicles. The demand for land vehicles of this genre has, to date, remained relatively low in comparison to bicycles as there has not been a clear advantage in their use. The disadvantages of some of the recumbent vehicles are complexity of design, weight, cost and the degree of difficulty to operate them. There are also patents for recumbent water vehicles in which a pedal crank drive rotates an air or water screw. However, none of these mechanisms has gained a clear advantage over a bicycle by deriving motive force from both arm and leg muscles in an efficient and natural arm and leg movement manner. Further, most of earlier concepts do not address use by the physically handicapped. Applicant is aware of the prior patents listed below disclosing arm and leg drive systems and recumbent vehicles:
______________________________________ U.S. PAT. NO. PATENTEE ______________________________________ 3,429,584 Hendricks 3,981,516 Haggkvist 4,152,005 Vanore 4,180,280 Doveri 4,189,166 Lindsey 4,198,072 Hopkins 4,248,448 Dmitrowsky 4,279,429 Hopkins et al 4,303,256 Mortenson 4,349,340 Hoffmann 4,373,740 Hendrix 4,469,343 Weatherford 4,548,420 Patroni, Jr. ______________________________________
Purposes of the present invention are to demonstrate clear advantages over a bicycle and various other prior arts with a mechanism of novel design and at the same time avoid the drawbacks experienced in other recumbents. The ideal vehicle mechanism will efficiently utilize a non-handicapped operators arm and leg strength and represent a balanced form of exercise for the upper torso and legs of the operator. The same vehicle may also lend itself to use by physically impaired individuals who have limited or no use of either their arms or their legs. The ideal human powered vehicle mechanism would also be light in weight yet durable, uncomplicated, easy to use, of modest cost and have adjustable linkages, controls and seat to accommodate operators of varying proportions. Additionally, foot elevation should be maintained low enough to avoid fatigue and help the operator maintain adequate circulation.
With respect to the aforesaid purposes, applicant also takes note herein of patents issued to Brock (U.S. Pat. No. 627,680), Grant (British No. 13,544), Long et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 564,796), Miller (U.S. Pat. No. 471,770) and Trickler (U.S. Pat. No. 585,370). Brock teaches a driving and steering mechanism for velocipedes that accomplishes steering by partly pivoting the seat (pelvic thrust) and by partly manipulating a single lever connected to a driving crank. Grant manipulates a pair of levers that provide auxiliary cranking power to petal cranks, while Long et al. employ conventional steering and hand levers to provide prime and/or auxiliary power. The aforementioned are directed primarily to motivational systems and do not contemplate head or torso steering as do Miller or Trickler. The latter two patentees inculcate systems which move but in two planes and effect steering therein by twisting of the operator's head to cause a yaw (left-right) moment about a vertical shaft yoked to a single front steering wheel axle. The common thread of steering motion in all aforesaid systems is that of motion about the yaw (vertical) axis. None appear to teach motion acquisition about the roll (longitudinal) axis and, after an exhaustive search of the velocipede and aircraft art, applicant found no teaching of steering, solely by using the head, which effected rotation about all axes--yaw, roll and pitch (lateral or transverse axis). The latter is self-evident because none of the prior art addresses three-dimensional travel such as performed by aircraft.